Euro 2016 Qualifiers TV Schedule For U.S Soccer Fans

Using the Champions League as their template, UEFA have completely revamped the scheduling of qualifying matches for Euro 2016. For starters, the 10 rounds of qualifying matches are referred to as “Matchdays”. Each Matchday will consist of three consecutive calendar days of matches that, in the case of the upcoming Matchday 1, will take place from Sunday through to Tuesday. Secondly, the kickoff times are set at 18.00 and 20.45 CET. Its worth mentioning that it’s not only matches in Russia and Azerbaijan that will have the early kickoffs.

The biggest change, however, is in the area of TV rights. Whereas past national team matches were sold separately by the respective Associations, UEFA have taken it upon themselves to sell the rights to the qualifiers themselves – again emulating the Champions League structure. In the US, FOX and ESPN will share the rights (in reality, it was Fox that won the bidding process and then subsequently sublicensed the rights to half the matches to ESPN). While at first thought, the consolidation of kickoff times could have limited the number of matches available live in the US, the fact that two networks with multiple outlets are handling the coverage works out fairly well for us fans in the US. Here is a rundown of LIVE matches for Matchday #1 (all times are ET):